/**
 * Copyright (c) 2008 - TheNittyGritty - Thomas Brekelmans
 * 
 * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
 * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
 * in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
 * to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
 * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
 * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
 * 
 * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
 * all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
 * 
 * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
 * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
 * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
 * AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
 * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
 * OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
 * THE SOFTWARE.
 */
package nl.thenittygritty.specification 
{

	/**
	 * ISpecification defines methods which make up the specification pattern 
	 * and is implemented by AbstractSpecification.
	 * TODO, Create and support a remainderUnsatisfiedBy(specification:ISpecification):ISpecification method.
	 */
	public interface ISpecification 
	{
		/**
		 * Returns whether or not the given candidate is satisfied by the 
		 * current specification (i.e. passes all it's validation logic).
		 */
		function isSatisfiedBy(candidate:*):Boolean
		
		/**
		 * Creates a new specification which checks if the given candidate is 
		 * satisfied by this specification and the given specification.
		 */
		function and(specification:ISpecification):ISpecification
		
		/**
		 * Creates a new specification which checks if the given candidate is 
		 * satisfied by this specification or the given specification.
		 */
		function or(specification:ISpecification):ISpecification
		
		/**
		 * Checks if the given specification is a special case of the current 
		 * specification and thus if the current specification can be replaced 
		 * by the given specification.
		 */
		function isGeneralizationOf(specification:ISpecification):Boolean
	}
}
